


The Black Book

by buriedbybooks



Category: Leverage
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Alcoholism, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Multi, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 02, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 04, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:08:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23821336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buriedbybooks/pseuds/buriedbybooks
Summary: Nate watched people, and no one more closely than the members of his team.  It was the best way to understand them, their motivations, how they could work together, and exactly what he needed to do to push them that little bit farther.  If that meant that he had a front row seat to watching their relationships develop, that was secondary.  It wasn't like he was invested in their feelings, not like Sophie, who had been and always would be a romantic.  No, Nate's first responsibility was to the team.  If what he saw gave him an edge when Sophie's competitive side made an appearance, and there were bets that he could win, that was a bonus.
Relationships: Alec Hardison & Parker & Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison/Parker, Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
Comments: 24
Kudos: 225





	The Black Book

**Author's Note:**

> I entirely owe this piece to a friend, who made the comment, "Do you think that Nate and Sophie bet on the relationships between the other three?"
> 
> My response was a 20,000+ word work. My first ever piece of fan fiction.
> 
> It is written as a series of scenes that take place in between episodes, starting with Season One and going just barely past the end of Season 5.

It was obvious to Nate that Hardison was interested in Parker, almost from the very first. Hardison couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself. There was a constant, running commentary that filtered in over the comms—everything from how sexy it was when she dropped the stolen bill into the hopper, to making disgruntled and disgusted remarks when the mark hit on Parker in Belgrade. It became easy to track his attraction and his jealousy.

“I think it’s sweet,” Sophie told him under her breath one evening when she caught Nate’s expression at one of Hardison’s comments. “It’s admiration and attraction—nothing that would hurt anyone.”

“For now.” Nate looked at Sophie out of the corner of his eye, then sighed and turned to face her fully. “At best it’s a distraction. A romance—or an unrequited one—could shift the balance of the team.”

There was a pause while Sophie studied him before she gave him one of her quick grins and a challenge. “I’ll make you a bet. I bet that in the end this crush of Hardison’s will only make the team stronger. He’s hooked, he won’t let this affect the team.”

Nate couldn’t help but smile crookedly and raise an eyebrow. “You’re that certain, then?”

“Of course. I’m never wrong.”

“What do you want to bet?”

Sophie pouted, “Straight to the point and no negotiations, Nate? Fine, you let me pick a job, without the dramatics this time.” She swatted his arm with mock annoyance.

“Deal. If Hardison’s crush doesn’t cause friction in the team for the next four jobs, you can choose a job for the team at your discretion. If you lose, you stop making comments on my drinking.” Nate held out his hand to shake on the agreement, his smile getting a little sharper.

Sophie tilted her head and stared at him before reaching out to take his hand in a firm grip. “Yes, but I reserve the right to tell you when I think you’re going too far, regardless of the outcome.”

“Are you having doubts, Sophie?”

“No.”

Agreement made, they went back to listening to hacker’s muttered asides as he walked Parker and Eliot through their preliminary recon. Nate crossed his arms and leaned back. Sophie covered her lips with a hand to cover her widening smile. Both settled in for watching Hardison’s developing feelings with invested interest.

***

Nate and Sophie slowly walked toward the parked cars, watching as Harison and Eliot put Parker in the front seat. It was a process--first they had to disentangle themselves from her arms from where they draped around their necks and then maneuver the artificially happy Parker into going where they wanted her to go. Eliot was scowling, though Sophie thought he looked a bit protective under all the aggravated posturing and shoving. Hardison looked bemused but pleased...and possibly like he wanted to pull out a cell phone to film Parker hanging off Eliot’s neck so that he could show it to the hitter at a later date.

“Nate,” Sophie started, putting a light hand on his arm to make him pause for a moment. “Do you think that Parker is aware of Hardison’s feelings?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she’s been throwing herself at Eliot rather a lot--I mean, she just jumped into his arms right in front of all of us--”

“That was the medication. Should wear off in a day or so.”

“She did the same thing when she launched herself out the window back in Miami. But, honestly, Nate, do you think she even realizes?” Sophie pushed.

“Parker…” Nate’s thought drifted off. “Hardison isn’t exactly subtle, but I don’t know if Parker really thinks about what he means when he says the things he does. What does that have to do with Eliot? She jumps off of things all the time.”

Sophie’s expression said that she thought Nate was missing the point, so she would spell it out for him: “Jumping at Eliot like that shows that she trusts him, Nate. That’s a big deal for Parker.”

Nate made a humming noise in the back of his throat as they watched Eliot make expansive, irritated gestures at Hardison now that Parker was seated in the car and Eliot had chucked her clothes bag in the back seat. They were probably arguing over who got to drive. “Eliot would never go for something like that. Parker’s a member of the team, and he knows that casual isn’t something Parker would do. And who knows how Parker is thinking of either Hardison or Eliot at this point.”

“True. Parker doesn’t think like normal people. I had thought that she and Hardison would have been communicating better by now, but… she’s still a bit wild, isn’t she? For all that Eliot finds her annoying, he probably understands her better than Hardison,” Sophie mused softly as they began walking again.

Hardison was now sitting behind Parker and Eliot shot a glare at them from the driver’s seat. The hitter caught Nate’s eye and jerked his chin to let him know that he’d see them back at the office before throwing the car into reverse and pulling out.

“You haven’t even won the last bet yet, are you itching for another one already?” Nate asked, not even looking at her as he unlocked his car.

With the passenger door open, Sophie put her hand above the door frame and didn’t get in, instead she leaned into the car and inclined her head toward Nate. “What are you suggesting?”

“Parker and Eliot become a tighter pairing in the team because they think alike. Hardison’s crush will stay unrequited,” Nate challenged. “And if I win, you join me for that drink I want.”

“No, no, no, no, no. Nate, that’s far too open ended for a bet,” Sophie protested. “We’d never know who won.”

“Fair.” Nate tapped his fingers on the roof of the car, unconsciously almost mimicking Sophie’s posture. “Measurable outcomes. Over the next month, Parker and Eliot will argue less. Hardison’s crush, well, unrequited should be obvious for you to read.”

“Parker and Eliot will always argue. It’s Eliot Spencer, and Parker’s a loose cannon. But if that’s the way you want to play this one...”

Nate smiled at Sophie, not contradicting her, and not changing the terms of the bet. “What do you want if you win?”

Sophie slid into the passenger seat and smoothed her hands over her skirt. “You buy me another pair of boots.”

***

Sophie had simply widened her eyes at Nate while she was giving her briefing on how to take down Ian Blackpool to remind him that she had won their first bet and he could go along with this. The job was her choice. Hardison’s crush on Parker, while getting deeper instead of over, had not caused any friction whatsoever within the team.

No, what had caused the friction and destruction was her running a con on her own team. Not that anyone could expect any differently; they were all thieves after all, even Nate, their honest man. And Maggie’s involvement, reminding Nate of who he used to be and everything he had lost, didn’t help matters either.

They only had a few moments left before the inevitable dissolution of the team; they were meeting at the hangar to disband and go their separate ways. The silence that rested between them was more awkward than Sophie wished it, and a glance at Nate’s face as he steered through traffic gave her very few clues. So she decided to tease him. It could be her last chance for a while.

“You still owe me a new pair of boots.”

Nate glanced over at her, then focused back on the road. “Oh? How do you figure that?”

“Your last bet was that Parker and Eliot would grow tighter within the team than Parker became with Hardison. Eliot looked like he wanted to strangle her when she pulled her “razor blade in the apple” joke. And, it was her idea to kiss Hardison to distract the guards. She certainly hasn’t done that with Eliot,” Sophie reminded him. They had all heard the sounds of the hacker and thief making out over the comms; it was seared into her brain, at once endearing and disturbing.

Nate grinned, “Parker hasn’t done that with Eliot that we know of.”

“Do you know Eliot actually asked me whether it was me or Hardison on the receiving end of Parker’s plan?” She hadn’t known whether she wanted to slap him like she would have if it were Nate who had said it, or ask if he was jealous.

“Yeah, I heard that.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes, “Are you laughing at me, Nate?”

“What, are you telling me you haven’t pulled that particular distraction?”

“Well of course I have, but not with Parker!” Sophie exclaimed, whacking his arm with her clutch. “Regardless, we would have heard it over the comms if Eliot and Parker had used that particular distraction, so I claim victory on that bet.”

Nate nodded. “I’ll grant you the first part, but I still think that Hardison’s crush is unrequited. She won’t talk about that kiss with him and it has been over a month. It’s on his mind, but doesn’t seem to be on hers.”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge that,” Sophie disagreed. “Parker doesn’t always communicate well, and she may just be avoiding talking about it.”

Nate parked the car outside the hangar and left the keys in the ignition when he got out. Some lucky person would find the car later and have a free ride for a while, Sophie supposed. Or maybe Nate would be using the car once they’d all walked away. Each of them had made their own travel arrangements, knowing that the time was coming. Sophie didn’t really want to think about that too closely yet.

Sophie didn’t move to enter the hangar, instead she leaned against the car and looked at Nate. “Do you think that Parker and Hardison will keep working together after this? Or will they go their separate ways like the rest of us? They’ve all changed, even Eliot.”

The lead up to another bet brought a smile to Nate’s lips. “What are you suggesting?” Nate leaned against the car next to her, crossed his arms, and got comfortable.

“I bet that Hardison goes looking for Parker,” Sophie told him.

“Do you think Parker would let him find her?” Nate asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“I don’t know, but I think Hardison will definitely look for her. He won’t want to let her go,” Sophie murmured.

Nate looked at Sophie’s mask of a neutral expression. “You always were a romantic,” he sighed. “I’ll take your bet. We agreed to all go our separate ways, and they will. But given that, how will we ever know the outcome?”

Inhaling sharply, Sophie pushed herself off the car and faced Nate directly. She caught his gaze. “You’ve tracked them before. In six months, you check up on them, and then come find me. I’ll be on stage and in six months, you come to one of my performances. That will give Hardison time to find Parker, and you time to find all three of us.”

“You don’t want me to find Eliot, too?” Nate leaned toward her, the intensity drawing them closer.

“Not unless you’re betting he’s the one tracking them down,” Sophie said. “They’ve all looked after themselves before, Eliot even more so than the others. He’ll be fine.”

Nate took a moment and studied her carefully before nodding. “Six months.”

“I’m writing it down this time, so no changing your bet,” Sophie threatened.

“What do you want if you win?” Nate asked.

“You can bring me that pair of boots. What do you want if you win?” Sophie wasn’t sure she wanted to know his answer, but had to ask.

Nate glanced behind her and then inclined his head to point his chin at something behind Sophie’s shoulder. When Sophie turned to look, she could see Eliot standing there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Hardison had his hands jammed in his pockets and was trying not to look at Parker. Parker was avoiding eye contact with the other two. Together, Nate and Sophie started walking.

Just before they were within earshot of the team, Nate murmured, “I’ll let you know.”

Then they all said their goodbyes. When Parker smiled at Hardison and challenged him to look for her, Sophie met Nate’s eyes again, but they didn’t say anything. And when it was time, Sophie turned and walked away. A fresh start. She didn’t look back.

***

Nate realized that he should have known Sophie would pull strings to ensure that the team got back together. She always did things her own way and manipulated everyone and everything until they were just where she wanted them. And of course she would entice them with tickets to her musical performance.

Not that he hadn’t known where Sophie was, or checked in briefly on each of the team after they’d gone their separate ways. There had been the bet. But while Nate had hoped that they could all go back to normal--whatever that normal happened to be--he hadn’t seen much of that in the last six months. He’d been able to find very little evidence of Parker or Hardison being active in their original spheres, or any evidence that Hardison had gone looking for Parker. And Eliot… well, Hardison had been right that things looked rather hinky in Pakistan.

And maybe Sophie--and Eliot and Parker and Hardison--were right. Helping the girl and her father after the mob tried to have them killed felt good. Good enough to agree to one or two more jobs. He could see each of their faces relax just a little bit more as they settled back into the rhythm of being a team. Nate would never admit that he could feel that relaxation in his shoulders as well.

Though when Eliot cut through the wall in his apartment, and Parker and Hardison slung their arms over his shoulders, Nate knew with absolute clarity that the team was definitely going to have a him versus them tone to it. He was the mastermind; they would team up to get even with him, and push him when they thought he was going the wrong direction.

Nate glanced at Parker and Hardison out of the corner of his eyes before between glaring at Eliot, who stood there with a grin on his face that was too obvious because the damn man should have been wearing a dust mask as well as the goggles. They looked happy, and comfortable, and Parker was touching two people--both himself and Hardison.

As soon as Nate escaped upstairs to his bedroom, he pulled out his cellphone and typed a message to Sophie. It didn’t matter if she was on a date, or that she had a boyfriend. This was a bet.

_No evidence that Hardison looked for Parker. I checked. You owe me dinner._

Nate paused and thought for a moment, then smiled when he added, _I bet that Hardison and Parker start ganging up on Eliot._

Sophie’s response came back too quickly. What was her date doing that she was looking at her phone?

_No evidence that you found. New bet noted. But you still owe me the boots from last time._

***

“Dinner?” Nate asked as they walked away from the Boston Free Clinic. Sophie was still looking a bit off kilter after having to tell so much truth during a con. He briefly wondered whether or not she would find it easier to tell the truth next time, but mentally shrugged and let the thought go.

“You’re buying,” Sophie told him.

Nate shoved his hands in his pockets as they started walking and then nodded, “Yeah, sure.”

“So, Parker did well handling McSweeten,” Sophie said. “Not easy keeping a grift while also talking someone through how to rob an apartment.”

“Yeah, she did good.”

“Hardison kept his cool pretty well, too, what with McSweeten falling all over himself to impress Parker,” Sophie continued. “He barely expressed any jealousy, which is a huge difference from the early days.”

Nate merely nodded and made an “I’m listening” noise in his throat. Sophie didn’t need much encouragement to continue dissecting the lives and feelings of the younger members of the team.

“He’s not making as many of the comments, either--Hardison’s just there for her. Giving her space, but there for her. Remember when you said that you thought that Parker and Hardison would start teaming up on Eliot?” Sophie asked, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small black notebook with a pen clipped inside. She flipped it open, not missing a single stride. “It was your last bet, but that hasn’t really been the way they’ve been working together since we got to Boston.”

“No,” Nate admitted.

“I’d say that Parker and Eliot are more likely to team up on Hardison. You weren’t watching them wrestling behind the couch--Eliot and Parker were running all over him.”

He couldn’t help it, Nate smirked at the memory of Hardison’s attempts to talk himself out of the choke old Parker had put him in. “Hardison knew he was never in any real danger, and there’s something about a woman who can take you down a notch. Did you notice he never tried to strike back at her or break her hold?”

Sophie paused for a moment. “No, I hadn’t noticed. You’re right, he tapped out on himself, the floor, and the couch, but never grabbed for Parker.”

“Parker is learning to trust them--she wouldn’t let Eliot teach her to fight or try to annoy him by chewing in his ear if she didn’t. In return, they’re careful with her space--Parker can enter theirs at any time, from any direction, but Eliot and Hardison only rarely push into her space and only if she can see them coming,” Nate said aloud what he had observed over the last few weeks.

Sophie hummed beside him, “Yes, I can see that. But I think Eliot and Hardison are still feeling each other out a bit. Competing. The way boys do. Eliot still puts Hardison back on his heels--especially if Eliot threatens to break his fingers or something like he did over who got to wear that shirt…”

“But they also agree on some things without having to make a show of it.” Nate hadn’t missed the look the two men had exchanged when Parker corrected them about what nurses were wearing in hospitals. “Hardison finds getting a rise out of Eliot entertaining. It’s the same for Eliot. And they both know exactly where to press to get that reaction. Someone else I know has that same talent,” Nate caught Sophie’s gaze and raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Just some friendly teasing,” Sophie demurred. “So you admit that you lost the last bet, that Hardison and Parker would team up against Eliot?”

“Yeah, it’s turned into something more fluid than that--they’re equal members in the team,” Nate admitted. He stopped walking, just short of the restaurant he’d been aiming for when they started out.

Sophie turned to stare at him. “You still think that Hardison’s crush is unrequited, and that he’s put it aside for the sake of the team.”

“I think that Hardison values what he has and isn’t going to push and possibly lose it,” Nate specified.

“I bet Hardison’’ll make a move eventually. He’s clearly still interested in her,” Sophie protested.

Nate inclined his head, pointing his chin at the book in her hand. “Write it down. What’s your time frame?”

“Within the next six months,” Sophie decided, making a notation in the book.

“Let’s stick to the loser buys dinner, shall we?” Nate opened the door to the restaurant as Sophie put the book back in her purse.

***

Sophie was off her game and still spiraling after breaking up with her “normal” boyfriend and having to confront her own truths on the job. She stared at her own grave as she asked Nate for time. Time to bury her aliases. Time to figure out who she really was.

Before walking away, though, she felt the need to give him a little push. As Eliot had said, she was the one who made sure her team was okay. And Nate was still riding high from a string of successes. At some point he would crash, and she wanted to make sure that he was at least trying to watch the team--maybe it would make it so that he didn’t fall so far.

“Nate, you should keep this while I’m away.” Sophie pulled her small black book out and held it out to him. “Keep a tally of how they’re interacting with each other.”

Nate just looked at the notebook and didn’t reach out to take it. “We haven’t finished the last bet yet--it hasn’t been six months.”

Sophie nodded, “I know that, but the longer they work together, the more they’ll settle into patterns. Look for them.”

Nate still didn’t take the book. There was a small smile playing around his eyes and mouth when he met her eyes. “Still the romantic, Sophie? You want me to keep a record of what happens between Hardison and Parker so you can read it later? That’s a bit voyeuristic, even for you.”

“I just want to know how the team has changed and fits together when I get back,” Sophie corrected.

After a beat, Nate finally took the book and flipped it open. It was a combination of bets written on the front sides of the pages, and notes on the team’s behavior on the backs. Squinting, Nate read _During briefing, Parker sat on the arm of Eliot’s chair; Hardison kept looking at them_ written in Sophie’s elaborate cursive. It was dated to the briefing when they started helping the Widmark kid a few jobs back.

“So just notes, no bets while you’re gone? What sort of things do you want me to note? It looks like you haven’t made any notes since before the last bet.” Nate kept flipping through the notebook, but he was right, she’d stopped her notes.

Sophie shrugged. “You can fill that back in. Write down things like Eliot and Hardison seeing how far they could push Parker in believing the conspiracy theories.”

Nate smirked, “The Apollo moon landing is a movie set in New Mexico that they’re going to reuse for the Mars missions. Right.”

“And the fact that Eliot is teasing Hardison more now,” Sophie added. “You can hear it over the comms--though letting Hardison drop in the elevator like that was a little mean.”

Closing the notebook, Nate stuffed it in his coat pocket. “I can do that.”

“And write down anything that might indicate if Parker and Hardison resolve their sexual tension. I bet they will have by the time I get back,” Sophie said excitedly. It was the happiest she’d looked throughout their whole conversation. Less lost.

“I can do that,” Nate repeated. “I will do that. It’ll be here for you when you get back. And you buy dinner if you’re wrong.”

Sophie smiled. “I’ll see you.” Then she turned and walked away.

***

Things were different with Sophie gone. At first, Nate started writing things in the notebook because she had asked. There were some things he knew he missed. Others, he thought, Sophie would have missed if she’d been there.

After getting the cop his reputation back and seeing the owner of Kerrity Diamonds arrested by Bonanno, Nate wrote:

_Parker uncomfortable sitting alone on couch during briefing; shoved away by Eliot; Hardison sat next to her and she stopped fidgeting._

_Eliot helped get Hardison out of trouble, despite saying he wouldn’t._

_Hardison hugged Eliot; Eliot did not punch him._

Some of these behaviors, Nate knew, were due to them trying to figure out how to work as a team without Sophie.

He knew that the team was calling Sophie when they shouldn’t. When that didn’t convince her to come back, he tried asking himself. In person. That didn’t work either. Now Nate was writing things down because he hoped Sophie would come back.

Watching and writing also helped because they had been joined by Tara--first playing the lawyer, and then as their Sophie-stand-in. It was changing the team dynamics again. 

_Eliot and Hardison commented on the lawyer’s sexiness._

Though some things definitely remained the same.

_Hardison, Eliot and Parker decided to grill me about my trip to London._

_Eliot enjoyed running a con at the fashion show and telling Parker about his past exploits._

Even when he started drinking again, there were some things a little too obvious for even him to miss.

_Hardison paid off the bartender so that he and Parker could watch Eliot beat up Sterling._

Nate had enjoyed watching the hitter wail on Sterling as well, but he was still a little surprised at his team’s obvious enjoyment. The sheer gleefulness of Parker’s expression, and was that smug pride on Hardison’s face? Nate had wished Sophie were there to debate this with him, and also to enjoy the show.

When the thought crossed his mind, he added more Irish to his coffee.

***

As soon as Eliot had herded Hardison and Parker off the helicopter and started moving them into the first safe house that she had arranged, Sophie reached for whatever it was Nate had slipped into her pocket. How he had done that while he was handcuffed to a railing, she couldn’t quite figure out, but she’d felt the hard edges when she took the helicopter seat that Eliot steered her toward.

It was her notebook. A bit more tattered around the edges, the pen clipped closer to the middle. And slightly tacky at one corner. Sophie rubbed her fingers together and looked at the dark red residue. Blood. Nate had been shot? How had she not noticed? And she’d slapped him for kissing her, for sacrificing himself for them. Sophie wanted to tell the pilot to take off again, but Eliot was standing at the safehouse door and staring at her.

Sophie tucked the notebook in her pocket and followed them into the safehouse. There were more hugs. _When did Parker start hugging?_ she wondered. More explanations. At least they were safe. Completely off balance and emotionally running the gamut from furious (Eliot), to betrayed (Hardison), and bottled up (Parker). Sophie shooed the three of them into the kitchen, knowing that having a knife in his hand would make Eliot feel more in control. Parker and Hardison could draw on that stability. She then excused herself to change out of her con outfit; she needed more time alone. When she caught Eliot’s eye from where he was chopping an onion, she knew he understood and would keep the other two with him.

Upstairs in her room, she sat on the floor beside the bed and pulled out the notebook. Nate had written in it. Sophie wondered how closely Nate’s notes matched Tara's comments.

Tara had been reporting to her ever since Sophie had called in the favor. She could well understand Tara’s frustration with Nate, and was quietly relieved when Tara’s main description of Parker was “adorable” rather than “crazy”.

It had been when Tara was reporting after the job in Ukraine, that she hadn’t really complained about much of anything. “I think I’m part of the team now,” she’d said. “Apparently hating Sterling is the key.”

“Sterling is an utter bastard,” Sophie agreed. “Welcome to the team.”

That initiation done, Sophie had decided to ask her old friend to keep an eye on how the relationships between Hardison, Eliot, and Parker were developing. Tara could appreciate a good bet, and was willing to give Sophie any ammunition she could. Also, as an outsider, Tara was reading them without knowing all of the previous history.

Sophie flipped open the notebook. She was right, Nate’s notes were more in line with how he knew their history, and why certain things were important. Her fingers ghosted over his handwriting--a little messy, obviously jotted down quickly.

_Eliot offered to kill the psychic for Parker after Rand cold read her and dug up her past._

Sophie’s eyes widened when she read that one. Eliot didn’t like killing people; he avoided it at all costs. That’s why he hated guns. That he had offered to do that for Parker…

_Eliot said it wasn’t good when Parker agreed with me over electrocuting the mark._

That one brought a smile to Sophie’s lips. Sometimes Nate could be very vindictive; Parker liked that. Apparently, this time it fell into Eliot’s “She’s crazy, don’t agree with her” category. Tara hadn’t noted either of those.

The last one that Nate had written down was obviously during this last case:

_Parker and Eliot think the same way--teamed up on Hardison to turn Lucille into a car bomb._

No wonder Hardison kept shooting betrayed glances at everyone. That van--for some unknown and incomprehensible reason--was Hardison’s pride and joy. He would never have blown her up willingly. Sophie idly wondered whether it was harder for Hardison to blow up the van, or their last headquarters.

Taking the pen from where Nate had clipped it to the next blank page, Sophie added the observations that Tara had told her.

_Hardison and Parker teamed up to find stolen money without including Eliot… He stormed off; possibly jealous._

_Hardison and Eliot sparred good naturedly over what was more important--Eliot’s walk-off single or the rest of the con. They ended with a “secret handshake” because it was cool they named a rubin sandwich after Eliot’s alias._

Sophie wished she’d been there to see that one. To see many of these things. But for now, it was more important to figure out what to do next. Sophie slipped the notebook into her purse. It would keep until they had Nate back.

***

It feels so good to have Sophie in his arms, no matter how awkward the circumstances are. Everyone at this reunion is watching them dance, thinking that they are also members of the class of ‘85. For a moment, they are awkward together, but then they both relax into it a bit.

Nate surreptitiously reaches up to turn off his earbud. If he and Sophie start talking, he doesn’t want the rest of the team listening.

Sophie is still listening, though, because he feels her start and then look past his right shoulder into a dark corner. Then she meets his eyes and also touches her ear, turning her comm off.

“Hardison just asked Parker to dance,” she murmured.

Nate turns them so he can look in the same direction she had been. And there, in the deep shadows above the gym, the hacker is swaying slowly with Parker in his arms. She is still dangling from a rappelling line without her feet touching the floor. Nate turns them again so Sophie can keep watching.

“It’s so sweet,” Sophie said. “He finally made a move.”

Even without thinking about it, Nate nodded, and found himself drawing Sophie closer. “He’s asking for her trust. I think he has it.”

“You’d never think that he’s such a gentleman, what with some of the conversations he and Eliot have,” Sophie wondered. “Did you hear them bickering about high school stereotypes? It was classic jocks vs. geeks.”

Nate hmmed, agreeing, but not wanting to mention that it was just one of their dynamics: pushing and pushing until the other one lost his temper. Nothing too serious. Eliot, Nate thought, knew that Hardison was the gentle one of the group, and still liked riling him up. Not that Hardison didn’t taunt Eliot right back. “Cute” was not a word Nate would use to describe their hitter, even if Eliot still seemed surprised by what personal information Hardison could get his hands on.

“You weren’t there for this one, but do you know that Parker actually decided to strip when we were taking photos of her to create those blackmail images?” Sophie asked.

“Wait, what?” Nate’s swaying faltered for a moment. “She just…”

“Shimmied out of her clothes,” Sophie confirmed. “Poor Hardison couldn’t figure out what to do, just looked away and I swear he was blushing. I think he also was asking himself why he wasn’t looking.”

“You didn’t…”

Sophie pulled back slightly to glare at him. “Of course we didn’t! It was completely unnecessary.”

Nate sighed. “Sometimes Parker…”

“Yes, I don’t think any of us can quite fathom her mind,” Sophie agreed. “I don’t think that they’ve resolved their sexual tension yet, but perhaps getting closer. I owe you dinner at some point. I lost the last bet.”

They were silent for a few more moments while they continued to sway on the dance floor, Sophie still watching Hardison and Parker dancing in the dark.

“Do you want to make a new one?” Nate’s voice was raspier than he wanted it to be. Hopefully Sophie didn’t notice.

“Hmmm? Oh, a new bet?” Sophie drew her attention back to him. “I still think that Parker and Hardison will end up together, and it won’t hurt the team one bit.”

“If it happens, Parker will have to be the one to close that final gap.” Nate thought for a moment, then decided to make the most outlandish claim he could think of, just to see what Sophie would do. “I bet Eliot asks Hardison out before Parker does.”

Sophie froze on the dance floor, pulled back and stared at him. “Eliot? The man who finds a gorgeous woman on whichever job we take? That Eliot?”

“Yep.”

“No.” Sophie shook her head. “No, absolutely not. You win that one and I’ll buy you a five course dinner at the nicest restaurant in Boston.”

“Fine.” Nate smirked and tucked his hands in his jeans pockets. “Put it in the notebook when you get the chance.”

Sophie glared at him and walked off. Nate couldn’t help but chuckle as he followed. Maybe that would stop her from being so romantic all the time.

***

Sophie went and found Nate in their offices as soon as she left the bar. He was sitting at the table, a drink in his hand. Playing hardball with the pharmaceutical company had not been an easy job for him.

“I just left Parker and Hardison in the bar--she’s definitely got feelings for him.” She decided to ignore his self pity and slapped her notebook down on the table in front of her when she sat down. “She crushed a beer bottle in her hands when she was watching Hardison say goodbye to Ashley.”

Nate looked up; his eyes still had some focus left, though they weren’t as sharp as had been when he’d headed upstairs after the job. “Jealousy.”

“Yes. Though she didn’t seem to know what that was.” Sophie sighed and borrowed Nate’s glass to take a drink. “I gave her a bit of a shove, told her that she needed to talk to Hardison.”

“Do you think she will?” Nate took his glass back and finished it off. He immediately refilled it.

Sophie sighed. “I hope so. This is getting a bit ridiculous: Hardison’s been holding out for her since the beginning, and she clearly hates it when he talks to other women.”

“Hmmm, yes, I noticed. She was there when I met with Ashley and couldn’t stop staring at her. Or maybe it was glaring. It was very… Parker of her. More so than we’ve seen for a while,” Nate agreed. “Well, since she went to go do that job on her own.”

Sophie nodded and stole his glass again. “I think that was an eye opening lesson on Parker for all of us.”

“Not Eliot,” Nate corrected. “Eliot was not surprised by Parker’s hideout or what he found out about her relationship with Archie. I thought for a moment I’d have to stop him from taking a swing at Leech.”

“Alright, Eliot wasn’t surprised then. But Hardison certainly was. And did you notice that was the first time he called her ‘Mama’ during a job?” Sophie asked.

Nate looked at her, thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. “I guess he let it slip because he was worried about the Steranko. Haven’t heard it since then.”

Sophie flipped open the notebook and started making notations. “Actually, Nate, I was wondering. You were with Parker and Eliot when Hardison played his solo during Sheherazade. How did they take it? I was surprised that Eliot wasn’t teasing Hardison mercilessly after it.”

“No. No, he wouldn’t have done that. We were all transfixed; weren’t you?”

“Of course I was. Hardison was brilliant!”

Nate sipped his drink, obviously toying with something in his head. Eventually he set down the glass and said, “There was a tear on Parker’s cheek. I don’t know if Eliot had his hand on his ribs because they were bruised.”

Sophie sat up straighter. “Really? Parker was that moved?”

“Yeah.”

She hummed for a moment, and then caught Nate’s eyes. “I think you’re going to lose the bet that you made. There’s no way that Eliot is going to ask Hardison out before Parker does. Where did that even come from anyway?”

Staring at his glass, Nate rotated it where it sat in front of him. After a moment, he looked up at her with an inscrutable expression, “Just a passing thought.” One that now resurfaced periodically. He’d seen the teasing and trust growing between the two. Just this job, Nate had seen Eliot sitting next to Hardison at the table and banging his head on it while the hacker lightly teased him about the hitter’s extended date with the FDA rep. The boys were more like brothers now than when they had started out. 

“I think you’re way off the mark, Nate. I think Parker will make a move very soon.”

“Doubling down?” Nate raised his eyebrow at Sophie.

“Fine,” she huffed. Sophie marked it in her notebook. Nate just took another drink.

***

Nate met Sophie at the restaurant, pulling out his chair and sitting down with a big sigh. “Well, I think that the boys came through today okay. They’re camped out in the offices fishing on the monitors.”

“Fishing on the monitors?” Sophie repeats, sounding completely dumbfounded.

“Yeah, some sort of fishing computer simulation. Hardison went all out for it--lawn chairs, an umbrella, cooler of beer.” Nate couldn’t help but smirk, “Eliot looked less than thrilled about the whole thing.”

“I can only imagine,” Sophie agreed. “I wonder if fishing is what he had in mind when he volunteered to go out and handle the bank.”

“Volunteered himself and Hardison,” Nate added. He motioned a waiter over so they could order drinks. After he’d left, Nate continued. “Question then becomes, do we count that as a date?”

Sophie froze and stared at him. “No.” The denial sounded automatic, but then her eyes widened. “You don’t think Eliot…”

“Maybe. He’s definitely less aggressive and annoyed with Hardison these days, and they seem to be … cooperating well. Should have gotten on that damned train, the both of them.” Nate ended in almost a grunt, still annoyed with them for disobeying the plan.

“But he’s always interested in women, and you know the reason he took his comm out during the fiddle game. It wasn’t to get notes on his musical performance,” Sophie said with raised eyebrows.

Nate thanked the waiter when he delivered their drinks and then took a long sip. He considered for a moment; his original intent with this particular bet had been to rile Sophie, but now it didn’t seem quite as far-fetched. Still very much in the latter half of the alphabet of possibilities, but not out of the question entirely. “I am not saying that he isn’t interested in women, just that he might also have a soft spot for Hardison.”

“But Hardison’s interested in Parker! We all know that.”

“Well, Hardison did try to reassure Eliot when he was nervous about performing, and I still don’t know who he was calling “baby” over the comms,” Nate reminded her. “So while I think that, yes, he is far more interested in Parker, he and Eliot are also building something.”

Sophie took a deep drink of her wine. “No. No, not until we see something more definitive.”

“So you don’t agree that they’re on a fishing date right now?” Nate teased.

Sophie just stared at him over her glass. “Fishing does not count as a date. Hardison hates the outdoors and Eliot doesn’t really like computers, so either way, this fishing thing is not a date.”

Nate nodded and picked up the menu, even though he silently disagreed--why else would Eliot subject himself to virtual fishing? “Guess I’m picking up the tab for tonight, then.”

***

“You know that Parker is going to start keeping notes on all of us now, don’t you?” Nate asked Sophie with a slight sigh as he settled into the couch. He was a little tired of getting blown up or beaten up while on a grift.

Sophie sat on the opposite end of the couch, facing him with one leg tucked under her and a glass of wine in one hand. “I knew that was a risk, but if she wants to get better at grifting, it is a good tool to have. Parker observes plenty, it’s the interpretation of that information where she really needs practice.”

Nate chuckled, “‘Sounded like they were working out.’ I’m not sure whether to be glad or worried that she didn’t understand what she heard.”

Sophie laughed, “Hardison’s response was priceless, though.”

“Glad Eliot didn’t pitch in,” Nate muttered. He wished he had grabbed a drink before sitting down, but it wasn’t really worth getting up for one right now.

Reaching down to her purse which was laying on the floor next to the couch, Sophie slipped out a familiar notebook. “That would have been a funny entry, though.”

Narrowing his eyes at Sophie, Nate asked, “I thought that you weren’t really keeping track of Eliot in all of this?”

Sophie waived off the comment, “You started it, but I still think that you’re way off base with your last bet. Parker may not have actually talked to Hardison about her feelings, but she is opening up to him. I was surprised that she told him about how she got left behind while jacking a car and ended up in juvie.”

“Opening up to all of us,” Nate added under his breath. He didn’t know if Parker had remembered she was comms when she’d talked to Hardison; personally he found it difficult to forget that he had four others who could hear his every utterance.

Sophie met his gaze, “Yes, we’re becoming tighter, aren’t we.”

“Eliot has pretty much stopped threatening to kill Parker for telling Josie about our sting operation. Hardison helped I think; not that they really listen to him when he tries to mediate.”

“You do realize that he was also saying that you were going to kill her for that particular piece of initiative?”

“True. True,” Nate agreed. “But it was understandable given what she told us.”

Sophie took the pen out of the notebook and tapped it idly against the open page. “Have you noticed that Eliot seems to be getting even more sarcastic?”

“He’s more sure of the team now. Eliot wasn’t all that reticent before, but I think he knows the others are comfortable enough now with him to deal with his humor. Hardison pushes back, so does Parker.” Nate slouched a little lower on the couch, resting his head against the back and watching Sophie.

Her eyes narrowed in amusement. “I couldn’t believe that he actually yelled “boom” in the mine.”

“Probably thought Hardison deserved it for being so particular about his tech,” Nate thought out loud. “Or possibly he was retaliating for that chest bump almost hug thing that Hardison tried.”

Sophie paused and stared at him. “Hardison hugged Eliot? Again?”

Nate smiled at the recollection. “Hardison went for a handshake of some sort and then pulled Eliot in, for morale, he said. It didn’t take Eliot long to shove Hardison away, but he smirked after Hardison had turned away.”

“Those two really are getting closer,” Sophie murmured, making a notation in her book. “Though I still don’t think it’s romantic.”

“Maybe not,” Nate agreed. “But I bet that Eliot is equally protective of Hardison and Parker; and they are just as protective of him. I don’t want to know how he’d react if one of them were really threatened.”

Sophie set her pen down. “That is not something that I want to contemplate. You don’t think Moreau…?”

They both knew that going after Moreau was the most challenging and risky thing they had attempted as a team. Nate really wished he had that whiskey in hand. “I hope not. I really hope not.”

***

“See, Christmas isn’t so bad,” Sophie coaxed Nate quietly as they stood behind the bar watching their team enjoy their gifts. Eliot had pulled the samurai sword back out of its sheath and was practicing a kata; Parker twirled slowly outside in the snow, alternately sticking her tongue out to catch flakes and just smiling; Hardison was now only paying half of his attention to the new phone in his hands, the other half of his attention was on Parker.

“No, it’s not so bad,” Nate agreed, pouring them each a shot.

“Did you see Hardison’s smile?” Sophie asked in a whisper.

“Yeah. I caught that, too.”

Sophie turned and lifted herself onto the bar so that her knee almost brushed Nate’s elbow where it rested on the bar. “Parker has a gift for joy. She makes both of them smile.” Hardison now, and Eliot had been unable to resist her gleeful “Ghostbusters!” a week or two back.

“All of us. Even when she’s exasperating,” Nate agreed, thinking back to Parker whacking him in the face with her antler headband. “Did you catch Eliot’s expression when she tried to give him the gingerbread house?”

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Sophie grinned. “Did I? I wished I’d had a camera....” Looking over her shoulder, she tilted her head slightly. “Though it seems that all I really need to do is lift Hardison’s phone. He must have years worth of blackmail photos by now.”

Nate looked at Hardison, who was holding up his phone in just the right way that they knew he was either recording or taking pictures of Eliot practicing with the sword while still in his Santa suit. Though Hardison wasn’t making any noise, they could tell he was chuckling, his smile crooked and his eyes half-lidded. “You missed him taking photos of Eliot ringing the bell earlier; we’ll have to see about getting those. Hardison was very much enjoying a laugh at Eliot’s expense.” Nate told her.

“You were, too; don’t deny it,” Sophie laughed. “Eliot is not what I would normally think of as the jolly type.”

“It’s another thing for them to bicker over later,” Nate sighed. “Sometimes I wish Hardison didn’t keep his comm on all the time; those two…”

“Fight over who gets to drive, or whether Hardison is pushing the alias too far, or what cultural reference Hardison wants to make, or whether Eliot is just looking for an excuse to hit someone… The list goes on,” Sophie trailed off, watching as Eliot realized he was being taped.

The hitter stalked over to the hacker and started growling at him. Hardison tried playing innocent, but there was a distinct curl to his lips while he held the new phone away from Eliot’s swipe to grab it.

“Friendly competition.” Nate was also watching.

Before things got too heated, Parker skipped in, dusted in snow. She gleefully draped herself so that she had an arm around Eliot’s shoulders and a hand on Hardison’s before leaning back and pulling at both of them. Though both men dwarfed her, she was strong and apparently had enough leverage to pull Eliot slightly off balance. Taking the win, Parker dragged both men outside into the snow flurry with her. Eliot continued to scowl and his arms were crossed in an “I am pretending not to be amused” attitude; Hardison didn’t even try to mask his rather indulgent smile.

“Friends. This is not something I could have predicted when this started and they would rather have been paid and walked away.”

Sophie held up her shot. “I’ll drink to that.”

***

“Well, here’s to locking up Moreau,” Nate said, holding up his glass to Sophie for a toast.

“Here’s to stealing a country,” Sophie countered. “The most daring con we’ve done yet.”

“We’re a team. The best.” Nate took a long drink and set his glass down with care. “I admit, I’ll be glad to get back on a plane home tomorrow.”

Sophie tilted her head to the side and studied him for a moment. “It worked out, Nate. We’re done with Moreau. We’re done with the Italian. Eliot will probably sleep better knowing that Moreau will never leave San Lorenzo.”

“I asked more of him than I ever wanted to need to,” Nate admitted. “I’m used to pushing you, pushing all of them, but…”

“But,” Sophie agreed. She reached across the table and took his hand, squeezing gently. “Eliot has us now. He doesn’t work alone, and you saw how both Parker and Hardison kept checking on him throughout this job.”

“True. I knew Hardison would pick up on the shift in Eliot’s mood; it’s good that Parker is so attuned to him as well.”

“I wonder what it was that the General said to Eliot over the phone; what it was that Parker heard or saw that she asked if he was alright. That pause was so charged,” Sophie wondered.

“Yeah,” Nate sighed. “There were a number of really tense moments. For a moment at the park, I was worried that Hardison would take too long to forgive Eliot.”

Blowing out a breath Sophie said, “I don’t think I have ever seen Hardison that angry.”

“We all felt it. The anger that comes from feeling betrayed by someone you trust. You’re right, we’re a team of equals; that’s the only reason we were able to get past that--the trust runs deeper.” Nate studied her for a moment. “That Eliot would tell Parker about that part of his past, that worst thing he’s ever done, that tells me more about his trust in her--in us--and his devotion to the team than anything else I can think of.”

Sophie let him wallow for a moment, and then prodded with a smile, “More than a team. Much more in some cases. I’m not sure exactly what it means--Parker and Hardison speak a different language it seems sometimes--but Parker told Hardison that she was in the mood for pretzels. I have never seen that boy look more like someone had hit him on the back of the head.”

“Pretzels?” Nate repeated, completely lost. “What do pretzels have to do with Hardison being surprised?”

Grinning, Sophie shrugged. “I don’t know, but it obviously meant something, because after the shock, he was positively giddy and acted every bit his age.”

Nate shook his head. “A 24 year old that has a problem with authority. He’s one of the best, but sometimes, he makes me feel old.”

“But given how far gone he is over Parker, I think this may have been an overture in the same direction on her part,” Sophie said. “If his smile was anything to go by. We’ll just have to see when things get back to normal. And I bet you will owe me a very nice dinner very soon.”

***

After dinner, no one leaves the office--it really is a shared space despite how much Nate tried to fight it. Even though the break after getting back from San Lorenzo was less than two weeks, it seems that everyone was ready to be back together again. Even Eliot, who had complained the most about being called out to a mountain for a job early. Idly, Nate wondered if Eliot had been on another retrieval job, or if Eliot had stopped doing side jobs entirely.

Sophie split the last of the bottle of wine between their glasses and watched the others. Eliot was sitting on one of the stools at the new briefing counter, slouching a bit as he slouching flipped through channels to find a game; Parker was perched next to him, sitting on the counter, facing him with one leg dangling and the other crossed under her as she checked a rig; Hardison had a computer set up at one of the two new side tables--still nearby but obviously doing his own thing. “Awww, I think they missed each other,” Sophie cooed softly, echoing Nate’s own thoughts.

“Yeah,” Nate agreed.

“I think Parker and Hardison are making progress,” Sophie told him conspiratorially. “Before you came back downstairs, they were talking about theirs not being a normal relationship. And she wants to meet his Nana.”

“They may never go on an actual date, you know,” Nate warned her. “And then I won’t owe you dinner.”

Tapping her fingernail against her glass, Sophie studied Nate. “Maybe. But I think it’s only a matter of time.”

Nate raised an eyebrow. “Ever the romantic, Sophie?”

“But it’s so obvious!” She exclaimed. “Did you see the way Hardison was holding Parker after she and Eliot came down the mountain? That she let him hold her? Took comfort in it?”

“True.” Nate took a sip of wine and watched Parker kick Eliot’s leg rhythmically with her foot as she continued to work on her harness. Even though Eliot shot her the occasional glower, he didn’t protest, didn’t move or shove her away. “But she doesn’t always want hugs. She punched him in the shoulder first, and then walked away from the second time Hardison tried to give her a hug while they were on the mountain.”

Knowing that it would irk Sophie, Nate continued, “Eliot on the other hand…”

Sophie set down her glass and glared at him. “You’re not still on about that.”

Nate shrugged. “Eliot did let Hardison hug him in greeting and didn’t shove him away immediately. And before heading up the mountain, Eliot voluntarily hugged Hardison.” Nate could still hear Hardison’s plaintive “At least Eliot gave me a hug.” He knew he was smirking and didn’t bother to wipe it off his face.

Huffing, Sophie said, “I don’t know whether you’re serious, or if you just want to annoy me. Either way, I don’t appreciate it. Parker is more Eliot’s type than Hardison is, and that would never happen either. Eliot would never do anything that might compromise this team. We’re all closer since Moreau, and none of us.” Sophie leaned in and emphasized, “None of us want to risk that.”

“So, we’re all just friends,” Nate challenged. “Nothing ever happened, and nothing will happen, for any of them, or either of us.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes at him, her posture becoming more upright and haughty. “Fine. I bet that Parker figures out her feelings before you do. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sophie grabbed her purse from the back of her chair and walked away, calling a good night to the others and not giving Nate a second look.

“That… might actually be a smart bet,” Nate admitted softly to himself, pouring the remainder of Sophie’s wine into his own glass. Swirling it thoughtfully, Nate sat back to consider the changing dynamics of his crew.

***

After they were seated and had placed their order for dinner, Sophie pulled her black notebook out of her purse. “You know, now that we’re going to dinner--as friends--more often, maybe we should change the stakes of our bets.”

Nate couldn’t stop the crooked smile that lit up his face, “You just don’t want to pick up the tab tonight. If I remember correctly, you just bet that Parker would figure out her feelings before I did.”

“Really, Nate? Are your feelings clear to you now?” Sophie leaned in toward him across the table and her tone became slightly husky.

“Clearer, certainly,” Nate murmured, inclining toward her as well. “So, you’re buying.”

Sophie sat back, huffing a laugh. “Didn’t you see Parker holding Hardison’s hand when they left Charlie’s hospital room? She knows he’s important to her, and she ‘s working her way toward it.”

“Yes, I did see that.” Opening his hands in a slightly theatrical gesture, Nate sighed. “Fine, I’ll pay.”

“But we’re still changing the stakes on the next bet,” Sophie told him.

“You’ve got another one?”

Sophie flicked open the notebook and looked at her notes. “I’m still betting on Parker and Hardison figuring things out. It’s only a matter of time. I just underestimated how much time it would take.” Looking up at Nate with a raised eyebrow, “Are you going to keep arguing for Eliot and Hardison as a possibility? I still don’t see that.”

Nate thought for a moment, seeming to debate with himself, and then answered slowly. “I’m not focusing on their romantic relationships, Sophie. I’m thinking about their dynamics within the team. Eliot is more relaxed since Moreau was put in prison--he’s allowing himself to get closer, physically and emotionally.” Eliot had been a lot more comfortable with touching in general since San Lorenzo.

“Hmmm, yes, I see what you mean,” Sophie agreed. “He was positively gloating over the fact that I knocked Hardison down with one punch, but their bickering didn’t devolve into a measuring competition the way it used to.”

Nate almost choked on his drink at her phrasing. “No, no, their teasing has definitely lost the sharper edges.” Eliot’s jab that ‘not everyone can be an action hero’, though not subtle, had not been said in a tone to cut.

“Hmmm, and there was that fist bump…” Sophie’s voice drifted off as she made a notation. “Brothers in arms...”

Nate watched Sophie study her notebook, just enjoying the moment and letting her start to think over the patterns that he’d been seeing for a while now.

“No, I still don’t think it’s romantic, and I don’t think that Eliot will ever ask Hardison on a date. Not only because I don’t think Hardison is his type, but also because he would never get between Hardison and Parker,” Sophie decided.

That had been something Nate had considered as well. Eliot saw his role as the protector of the team, and he would never jeopardize them, in any way, on or off a job. And Hardison… it had been over four years, and he was still standing there, waiting for Parker with his arms wide open. They all knew it, including Eliot.

Sophie tapped the open notebook with a finger and the smile that crossed her face was one that Nate recognized: she was chasing a challenge. “I bet that Parker verbalizes her feelings soon. I think she’s coming to understand them enough to put words to them.”

“You do know that not everything that they say is said while we’re on comms and can hear them,” Nate warned her. “We could never know when she says anything.”

Sophie shook her head. “We’ll know. Something will push her, and we’ll know.”

The food arrived, and Nate decided that it was time to change the subject or else Sophie might start plotting how to make that push happen. “We observe only. Let it happen in its own time if it's going to.”

The smile Sophie gave Nate was enigmatic. “I’ll only do what I have done so far--be there if they need me.”

***

They sat there watching Parker and Hardison bicker over the small green robot for a while before Nate surreptitiously nudged Sophie’s foot under the table and tilted his chin toward the door. Sophie nodded and followed him out and upstairs to the apartment. Nate immediately went to get out a bottle of wine and two glasses; Sophie perched herself on one of the stools at the counter.

“You were baiting them,” Sohpie observed, accepting her glass as Nate joined her at the counter.

Nate shrugged, but couldn’t hide his smile. “It was too easy. We’ve been watching Hardison tinker with that robot for weeks. He was so invested in that project that he almost blew it entirely.”

“I thought we said something about not pushing…?” Sophie raised an eyebrow at him, mock accusing.

“It… wasn’t really pushing. Just stirring things up a bit.” Nate sipped his wine. “You would have done the same.”

“Hmmm. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Hardison fumble an explanation that badly. He was obviously trying to do something nice for her and kept getting the presentation wrong.” Sophie couldn’t help but laugh, “That Parker felt threatened by a robot when Hardison’s been mooning over her for years…”

“Well, being the thief is her thing,” Nate said. “It’s what she’s best at, what she contributes. No one wants to be replaced.”

“It was sweet the way that he finally put it, though, that the robot was for Parker,” Sophie murmured softly. “Romantic, in a geeky sort of way.”

Nate shook his head, “Hardison should have known better to name it Parker2000. I did tell him.”

“Multiple times if I recall,” Sophie agreed.

Nate sighed. “At least they got it straightened out. Mostly.” Hardison had still been protesting Parker’s renaming the robot “Hardy” and hugging it like a stuffed animal when they’d left the bar.

Sophie finished her wine. “Hopefully Parker will open up to Hardison in return. And Eliot certainly won’t be getting in the way of that. Did you see the nurse?”

Setting down his glass after almost choking on his wine at the conversational change, Nate just grunted and cleared his throat. They had all seen Nurse Gail.

“I told you, he’s a lady’s man; woman in every port, you know the type,” Sophie continued on blythely.

“Not sure what you think is going to happen tonight…” Nate muttered in the direction of his glass. Eliot had taken a severe beating; Nate bet the hitter had bruised or broken ribs, something pulled in a hip or knee that was causing him to limp, and the state of his hands and face were no light matter either. The man probably had a concussion.

“Still. Gail is pretty much the opposite of Hardison, and the way they were touching was definitely not platonic.”

“Hardison was right, we should have insisted that Eliot see a real doctor,” Nate grumbled. He also thought that he could ask Hardison in the morning if Gail was a real, licensed nurse practitioner. “I bet Hardison checks up on Gail tonight.”

Sophie speared him with a look. “Another bet, Nate?”

“Put it in the book.” Nate drained his glass and didn’t have to watch to know that Sophie was doing just as he’d suggested.

***

Sophie ended up curled up on the couch next to Nate in his apartment as soon as they were alone. Hardison had gone downstairs to talk to Parker, and Eliot had disappeared soon after. Nate put his arm around Sophie’s shoulders, drawing her closer. The contact felt necessary.

“That was too close, Nate. We almost lost him today,” Sophie murmured.

Nate turned his face into her hair. “I know.”

“I don’t know what that would have done to us. Parker…” The look on Parker’s face when they’d finally been able to pull Hardison out of the coffin, the crash of adrenaline and panic and relief in her eyes when she’d seen Hardison safe. She hadn’t come closer to hug him, couldn’t come closer. Sophie had seen in Hardison’s expression that he was as tied to Parker as she was to him, that he understood.

“I know,” Nate agreed again. “Eliot too.” The hitter had grabbed on to Hardison as soon as they’d gotten him on his feet. That rough ‘Never do that again, man. Don’t do that again’ rasped as Eliot pulled the hacker into himself with a hand around the back of Hardison’s neck. 

Nate and Sophie had hugged Hardison as well, giving the hacker that grounding physical touch, as well as reassuring themselves that he was alive and whole. But it hadn’t been that gut-wrenching, immediate need that he’d seen drive Eliot to pull Hardison in.

“That it happened now… I’d just spoken to her about it being alright to open up, to care about someone. That it was worth the… the risk.” Sophie shivered, grateful when Nate’s arm tightened around her even more.

Nate looked down at the top of Sophie’s head, not able to see her expression. “Parker got him through it. And she told him.” He could still hear her anguished, ‘Do you hear me, Alec? I need you!’

“She did, didn’t she,” Sophie agreed. “I knew it would be soon. I just never imagined it would be under circumstances like these.”

Nate kissed the top of Sophie’s head and held her.

*** Interlude ***

Parker hoisted herself up onto the counter next to where Eliot was cooking. He glared at her, which was normal. He’d finally stopped growling at her that it wasn’t sanitary for her to sit on surfaces he used to prep food. He knew it didn’t work.

“Have you asked Hardison out on a date?” Parker asked, looking over at him while she kicked her heels against the cabinets.

“Dammit, Parker!” Eliot swore as his knife slipped slightly. She must have surprised him then. He slammed down the knife and looked over his shoulder at her. “You can’t just ask someone something like that.”

Parker tilted her head to the left slightly, trying to figure out what to ask next. “That wasn’t a no,” she said, deciding her “why not?” could wait for later.

“No, Parker, I have not asked Hardison out,” Eliot growled, turning back to the pepper he was cutting.

“Why not?” Parker kicked her heels against the cabinet again, wishing she could see Eliot’s eyes, which were hidden behind his hair.

“Parker!” Eliot set the knife down again and turned to her. He took a slow breath before trying again. “Hardison is interested in you. You know that.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, “But that doesn’t mean you haven’t asked him out.”

Eliot’s face showed a series of expressions, which Parker couldn’t quite read, but ended with his brows furrowed and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Frustrated. He was frustrated and trying to contain it. One more slow breath, and then he said slowly, “Parker. You and Hardison are my friends. I won’t-- I won’t-- get in the way of that.” He gestured between her and the general direction where Hardison was probably working with his computers.

Parker’s brows scrunched down as she worked through what Eliot was trying to tell her. “So going fishing wasn’t a date.”

“What? No!” Eliot snapped at her. “It was a guy thing. Wasn’t even real fishing.”

“Hardison!” Parker shouted. Eliot wasn’t being useful.

“What?” Hardison hollered back.

“Would you call fishing a date?” She yelled, ignoring the faces that Eliot was making at her, which she interpreted as he wanted her to shut up.

“What was that, mama? Fishin’? You wanna go fishin’?” Hardison asked, his expression completely confused as he sauntered out of his work room and into the kitchen. He hitched a hip against the counter opposite her and looked at the two of them.

“No,” Parker said impatiently. “You and Eliot. Would you call fishing a date?”

Hardison’s face screwed up in what Parker thought of as his ‘this doesn’t add up’ face. “We was just hangin’ out, Parker, and it only happened the one time--”

“‘Cause it’s not really fishing,” Eliot protested again.

Hardison shot him a ‘yeah, yeah, I know what you think’ look, and then turned a more serious gaze on Parker. “Parker, where’s this coming from?” he asked.

Parker looked back and forth between them. Eliot was now standing there, arms crossed (not angry, not defensive... considering?), feet apart, studying her. “I saw something in Sophie’s notebook.”

“What notebook?” Eliot demanded.

“The one in her purse. I saw it when I was holding her purse for her in the airport; wanted to see what else she had in there with the heels,” Parker told them as if it were obvious.

“You went through Sophie’s purse?” Hardison sounded simultaneously horrified and curious.

“Yeah. I didn’t take anything, but,” Parker shrugged one shoulder. “I wanted to know.”

“Parker,” Eliot brought her attention back to him after exchanging a look with Hardison. “What else was in the notebook?”

“Bets. Whether you would ask Hardison out before I did, things like that,” Parker explained.

Hardison squeaked, covering his mouth with his hand and looking back and forth between Parker and Eliot with wide eyes. Eliot… looked like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to punch something or not.

Eliot recovered faster than Hardison. “Sophie is betting with… with Nate?... about which of us is going to date Hardison?”

Parker nodded, glad that Eliot got it.

“Why?”

Parker shrugged again. She didn’t know. Didn’t know why Eliot was struggling and Hardison looked like he’d swallowed something the wrong way, either.

Eliot met Hardison’s eyes and his eyebrows finally stopped twitching as he stared at the hacker. Hardison was the one who broke that silence first, “Hey, man, it’s all cool…” and kept talking fast and not-quite coherent. Parker couldn’t understand why Hardison was babbling.

“Dammit, Hardison,” Eliot growled, stopping the hacker’s flow of words. “Parker. How long have they been betting?”

“Earliest entry was before the rehab job,” Parker recalled. “Sophie noted that I jumped on you after that one and she wrote things before it.”

“And they kept it up this long?” Hardison questioned, calming down enough to think.

Parker nodded.

Hardison and Eliot exchanged another look. Hardison tilted his head, a sly smile starting to curve his lips, and Eliot smirked. Parker waited for them to tell her what was funny. “What do you say to keeping them guessing?” Hardison asked.

“You goin’ to be alright with that?” Eliot checked.

“Hell, yeah, man. Nothin’ they don’t deserve,” Hardison said, his smile turning to a grin. “You in, mama?”

“Grift Nate and Sophie?” Parker asked, frowning. “You don’t grift your own team.”

“No, you don’t grift your own team,” Eliot agreed, voice gravely.

“We just be ourselves, and lean into how we’re feelin’ a bit sometimes,” Hardison added, coming over to bump his shoulder against Parker’s. “No one’ll act differently, just a bit more openly.”

“Oh. Okay. I can deal with that,” Parker decided.

***

“Does Hardison really die in all of those plans?” Sophie asked once they were alone in Nate’s apartment--finally--after that long trip back from Dubaii.

“Yes, but I do avoid those plans as best I can,” Nate admitted. “...And it wasn’t quite as many as I told them downstairs.”

They settled at the table, as they usually did between post-job celebration and ‘dinner’. Sophie just looked at him, “I’m glad we can joke about it now; there wasn’t a bit of stress in any of them when you said that. I was a bit worried for a moment, there.”

“So was I, but it seemed a good time to check on how they were all feeling.”

“Parker liked the plan where Eliot gets a scar; he didn’t seem to mind that one either,” Sophie mused with a smile. “Though he does have plenty of those already.”

“Yeah, Parker is still a bit bloodthirsty sometimes, isn’t she,” Nate reflected, thinking back to her gleeful escalation of how to get security passes for the airport in Cincinnati: ‘break Eliot’s arm? Set Nate on fire?’ He was also pretty sure that she was partly doing it to amuse Hardison and annoy Eliot, if their expressions had been anything to judge by.

“Wild is the word for it,” Sophie agreed. “She was so excited to jump off that sky spire.”

Nate chuckled. “Even though Hardison doesn’t understand her obsession with heights, he plans for it. It was fortunate that he put that parachute in her pack.”

It was something that Nate had started really tracking recently: how the teamwork was getting even more seamless--Haridson’s backup parachute; Eliot using a Star Trek reference (despite hating to admit he could sometimes speak geek) to get Hardison’s attention at the airport; Hardison offering bad guys for Eliot to punch. Those pieces showed how well they could all anticipate each other and understand their foibles.

“Did you catch that she asked if she could go again?” Sophie was smiling. “Maybe we can take her to the world’s tallest building next time.”

Nate couldn’t help but grin. “Parker would love that.”

“It was sweet how Hardison helped Parker on this one. I wonder how they figured out that music would help her mimic the rhythm Livingston’s walk?” Sophie thought out loud. “It seemed to help, though.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if what ended up working was Hardison teaching Parker to dance,” Nate decided, thinking about what he had heard--and hadn’t heard--over the comms. There had been that very distinct silent period from the hotel room. Hardison wasn’t usually one to take his comm out during a job, and it was probably so that he and Parker could work through some of her frustration with the weighted boots.

“Oh, that would have been so sweet!” Sophie exclaimed, looking thrilled at the prospect. “I wonder if it would have been their first time since we stole that high-school reunion.”

“Probably,” Nate admitted.

“Do you think that they’re dating yet?” Sophie asked.

Nate stared at her for a moment, and then reminded her dryly, “After the group intervention asking if we were… I bet they’ll tell us if it happens.”

“If not, we can get some much deserved revenge,” Sophie added, voice also dry.

***

“So, um, should we follow them?” Sophie asked, tilting her head toward the door.

Nate looked past her and then shook his head. “Let them go. I’ve heard enough about that sandwich for now. That’s the longest bickering streak on a single topic that I’ve ever heard from those two. Almost turned into a feud.”

Sophie settled herself more comfortably against the bar and smiled at him, lifting her drink for another sip. “Next time we need a married couple for a con, we should send those two after Hardison’s stolen another one of Eliot’s sandwiches. They bicker well enough to pass.”

Startled, Nate froze with his hand reaching for the bottle to refill both their glasses. “You want us to pass them off as a married couple.”

“They could totally play the parts,” Sophie said excitedly. “It wouldn’t take much coaching; Eliot’s a good grifter, and Hardison takes notes well.” Her eyes lit with excitement over the potential challenge.

While Nate found the idea potentially amusing, he thought it might be worth reigning Sophie in slightly. He could see her spinning scenarios out in her head. “Do you think Parker would be alright with that? We’ve never made Hardison play part of a couple with anyone other than her.”

“It’s Eliot, it’s not like it would be real,” Sophie dismissed, waving her hand in the air. “Parker’s only ever been threatened when Hardison shows too much interest in women; she’s never minded when he and Eliot go grab coffee or handle parts of jobs on their own. And she seems a lot more certain of him, even when he was surrounded by coeds at the ivy league.”

“She got to stake her claim a bit in that con, though,” Nate reminded her. “She kissed him again at the party.” Which had been a performance they could all hear over the comms. But she had also gotten to give Hardison that pep-talk, which, while well intentioned, hadn’t been very good. It had worked, though. As Hardison said, it worked because Parker thought it would. And that connection between the two of them was more solidifying than the public make out session.

“Still, it’s Eliot. She’s not threatened by Eliot in the least. She just pokes at him when he gets grumpy,” Sophie said, not at all concerned that she was mentally planning ways to force Eliot and Hardison into pretend matrimony.

Nate sipped his drink. There was going to be no stopping Sophie now. In the future he’d just have to make sure that Eliot and Hardison did not make the perfect pair to send in on a grift. It might work a little too well. They were comfortable together, and the bickering--depending on how they played it with body language--could be spun as either fraternal or romantic. The whole incident when Eliot had stolen Hardison’s orange soda during the briefing… and the fact that Hardison offered to buy Eliot dinner. Yes the others had jumped on the offer, but it had originally been an offer to Eliot.

“Sophie…” Nate drew her attention back to him. “Don’t push the matter. If it’s appropriate at a later time, we’ll consider it. For now, let’s just let them simmer back to normal.”

She huffed at him, obviously trying to guilt him into relenting. Eventually she sighed. “Fine. But if it could work for a con…”

Nate knew to let it lie there. “Then we consider it,” he repeated.

*** Interlude ***

“Hey, man, you think we played the sandwich feud a little too hard?” Hardison asked Eliot as he slouched further down into the couch at his apartment. They’d ended up back at his place to watch the game after dinner--he had the better screens, great couch. Parker had wandered off to do her own thing while they watched sports; Hardison expected she’d show up eventually.

Eliot was sprawled out on the opposite end of the couch, beer lightly grasped in one hand. He didn’t even bother to turn his head to look at Hardison, just considered him with a sideways look. “Whaddya mean?”

“From the footage that guy, Gunther, showed us, we was bickerin’ more’n Nate an’ Sophie,” Hardison explained, having thought it was obvious.

Eliot snorted. “Can’t believe she brought up foreplay.”

Hardison choked on his beer, “Bro! A little warning next time!” Looking over at his friend, all Eliot did was smirk in response to Hardison’s near mishap. Hardison pitched a throw pillow at his head in retaliation; frustratingly, Eliot was able to bat it away without even looking. “But, seriously, man.”

“No, I don’t think we pushed it too far,” Eliot growled at him, still staring at the tv, even though they were in a commercial break. “You ate my damn sandwich, Hardison!”

“Hey, I bought you dinner, an’ I didn’t eat your damn sandwich!” Hardison protested. He knew that Eliot knew, but he still didn’t want to admit it.

Eliot finally turned to glare at him directly, but didn’t speak.

Hardison met his glare for a minute and then blinked. “Ohhhh… heh, yeah.” Nate and Sophie weren’t here, they weren’t listening; it was just the two of them chilling in front of the tv. And nothing had changed.

And… Hardison couldn’t get it out of his head that he and Eliot bickered as much or more than Nate and Sophie, who he knew--even though he didn’t want to know--were doing things he didn’t want to think about them doing. But friends bickered too; brothers did. Yeah. It was cool. No one knew...

“Hardison.”

He looked up when Eliot’s voice rasped over his name and Eliot’s bright blue gaze snared him.

“Don’t over think it. Nate and Sophie were probably so wrapped up in their own fight they didn’t even notice.” Eliot looked back at the screens then, and tood a draw on his beer. “It’s not like either of us saw the damned book. Don’t know if they’re still bettin’.”

Eliot’s calm had settled him, so Hardison sank lower into the couch and snorted. “They’re still goin’. Those two never let go of a thing.”

Eliot raised an eyebrow, but didn’t disagree.

“You still wantin’ to mess with em?” Hardison asked after they watched a play go south. He took Eliot’s grunt as agreement. “We could pitch dancing as one of our cover stories--or you could do another stage act, and I could be your groupie,” Hardison started spinning out ideas.

“Hardison.”

“You could give Parker piggy-back rides like ya do when we’re alone,” Hardison continued.

“Hardison!”

Hardison stopped and noticed that Eliot was glaring at him again.

“Don’t oversell. You always oversell!” Eliot argued. “We’re not griftin’ them, remember? We’re just… We just do what we do, an’ leave it at that.”

Even though Hardison knew Eliot was right, he crossed his arms defensively. His ideas were brilliant; it was just that no one appreciated them.

“And you shouldn’t volunteer Parker for stuff,” Eliot continued.

“Volunteer me for what?”

Hardison almost levitated out of his seat. She always snuck up on him, and even though he was mostly used to it, sometimes it just got him.

He tilted his head back to look straight up into her eyes. They were crinkled up and happy. “Hey, babe. Welcome back.” He smiled up at her.

Parker’s smile turned into a grin, and then she jumped up to sit on the back of the couch between the two men. “So, what did Hardison volunteer me for? And why don’t you have popcorn?”

“Hardison thought I should give you piggy back rides to briefings,” Eliot answered, ignoring Hardison’s ‘why’re you betraying me, man?’ wide eyed look.

“Oh, piggy back rides are fun. Let’s do that,” Parker agreed immediately. “But first, popcorn. And turn on something good.”

***

“See, even you believe that romance isn’t dead,” Sophie told Nate with a soft smile, arranging the white roses in a vase at her apartment. “You remembered my favorite.”

Nate just smiled, deciding not to admit that it had been Eliot who had ordered the flowers, both for Sophie and Parker. The hitter was smooth with women in a way that he and Hardison were not. Eliot had even figured out what type of plant Parker would like--of course it was one that was carnivorous.

“And Parker and Hardison are really settling in now. I talked with Parker a bit ago--after Hurley turned back up again--and she said that she got it now. Even though she and Hardison are different and don’t always like the same things,” Sophie went on happily. She came over to where Nate was sitting and perched on the arm of his chair. “It really is wonderful to see those two finally moving forward together.”

“You do realize that Hardison is the one that is getting jealous now?” Nate asked, looking up at Sophie. “He was not happy that you all were hanging out with that thief.”

“Hmmm, he was rather handsome,” Sophie agreed. “Tara certainly approved.”

“Eliot didn’t seem very impressed,” Nate snorted. “But I’m glad Tara enjoyed your night out.”

“Yes,” Sophie slid onto his lap from the arm of the chair. “I think Eliot is a bit of a closet romantic. He cooks, he knows women, he picks out flowers…” She looked up at Nate through her lashes.

He laughed, “So you did catch that.”

“Of course I did. I also caught that Hardison was able to convince Eliot to cook him a rib dinner. Bone in, well done, I believe they agreed on. I bet Parker also gets to enjoy that meal. I still read people, even if you are trying to turn my head,” Sophie chided.

“Fair. Fair,” Nate admitted. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.” He took up her invitation and they kissed for a little while. When they separated, Nate continued, “I think you’re right, Eliot’s going to end up cooking for both of them.”

“It was sweet, Parker helping Hardison win the bet he had going with Eliot.” Sophie rested her head against his shoulder. “The three of them get along so well. Neither of them blinked at Eliot picking up that fake nun. What was her name?”

“Sister Lupe,” Nate filled in.

“Sister Lupe. Parker just poured her a drink, and Eliot couldn’t figure out how to escape socializing. She doesn’t usually try to engage his conquests,” Sophie’s voice drifted off as she considered this. “Maybe it was because she was a grifter…?”

Nate shrugged, knowing that he would never fully understand how Parker thought.

“She may also have just been feeling more confident about dealing with ‘normal’ people. I wonder if alcohol is as reassuring as forks are in a social setting?”

“Parker is getting better at reading people and connecting to them--you can see it in her grifting. She is diversifying her skillset,” Nate agreed. Parker, who could lift, who thought out every aspect of a job, who could be dispassionate when she needed to be… That was something to consider. Just not now, when Sophie decided it was time for ‘dinner.’

***

They had celebrated their win over Dubenich and Latimer, packed up what Hardison referred to as the Bat Cave, and agreed to meet up again in a few months. Sophie was rather sad to see the team take a hiatus, but it did make sense with all of the heat that they’d been dealing with recently.

She threaded her arm through Nate’s as they watched Eliot throw his duffle into the back seat of his Challenger. The hitter exchanged one last fist bump with Hardison and nodded at Parker before getting in the car and driving off. Hardison stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared after the car for a moment; then he and Parker turned to walk toward Lucille. Looking back at Nate and Sophie, Hardison raised a hand, and Parker, one step ahead of him, stood on the far side of the van and waved.

“It is going to be quiet without them,” Sophie murmured as the van pulled away.

“Yeah,” Nate agreed. “But we’ll meet up again in a few weeks, break the law a few more times.”

Sophie turned to him with a smile, “Sounds perfect.” She hummed softly to herself as they walked toward Nate’s car. “This isn’t like the last time we did this, knowing that we’ll all meet up again makes this part easier.”

Nate nodded, “Easier for everyone, I think.” He held the car door open for her and stole a kiss before she got in. When he joined her in the car, he continued, “Eliot will probably take a side job or two. Parker and Hardison…”

“I think they’ll stay together this time,” Sophie said when Nate trailed off. “They’re so much more together now. Did you hear her say that she was glad that Archie approved of Hardison?”

“No, I missed that,” Nate admitted. “Archie approves?”

Sophie sighed happily, “Apparently so.”

“And Hardison is still in love with Parker, even though she still throws him off high things, which says a lot,” Nate mused. “Though, come to think of it, you shot me, which is worse.”

“And you shot me!” Sophie defended. “That was years ago, Nate, you should get over that. Besides, I’m pretty sure it was Eliot that shoved Hardison that last time.” She laughed, remembering the conversation which they had heard loud and clear over the comms, when Parker and Eliot had debated whether it would be easier to lower Hardison if he were asleep. And then there was Eliot’s aside to her--’see, it’s not just me’--when Quinn had asked if he could punch either of the two hackers. “You know, Hardison’s Mr. Punchy wasn’t too far off.”

Nate laughed, which made Sophie feel lighter inside. She hadn’t been sure he would be able to laugh again so soon after his father’s murder.

“Eliot liked that cartoon thing despite himself,” Nate told her. “He kept showing it to me on his phone during that job.”

Sophie’s eyes widened. “No! Really?” Sometimes she thought that she would never quite get Eliot’s sense of humor.

“Hardison knows how to make his tech appeal to Eliot. Action things that reference the classics,” Nate said, still smiling. “I think he was half serious about that Eliot signal.”

“But it’s a terrible idea,” Sophie protested.

“Hardison likes his tech,” Nate reminded her. “And he isn’t always practical about it.”

Sophie reflected back to Hardison’s boy-in-a-toy-shop response to being in the patent office. “You’re right.” Though from the sounds on the comms, Parker had been just as enthralled. Though why Eliot insisted on winding her up with things like time machines and conspiracies…

She caught Nate glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, and he was smirking. Sophie raised her eyebrow in return, “What?”

“I bet that Hardison and Parker are officially dating by the time we meet up again,” Nate said clearly, almost a challenge.

Sophie twisted so that she could face him fully. “Not that I disagree with you, but you’re feeling romantic still, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Since I agree with you, that’s not really something either of us can win,” Sophie huffed.

“Who do you think will tell us?” Nate asked.

“Hardison, of course,” Sophie decided immediately. Hardison was the one who was comfortable with feelings, and always overshared. On everything.

Nate chuckled. “Then we have a bet. I think it will be Parker.”

“Stakes?” Sophie demanded.

“How about you owe me.” Nate took advantage of the red light to look her in the eye. “If I’m right, I can ask you for a favor, no questions.”

“Fine, but I get the same when I win,” Sophie said as she pulled the well-worn notebook out of her purse.

“Deal,” Nate murmured, leaning over to steal a kiss.

The car behind them honked and Nate pulled back into traffic.

***

Sophie was curled up in an armchair in their apartment when Nate finally made it back. He’d vaguely been hoping that Sophie would have gone to bed so he wouldn’t have to explain why he’d stayed late at the office. Sitting down in the chair next to hers, Nate realized that Sophie was writing in the notebook again.

“Writing down that you owe me a favor?” Nate asked.

The glare that Sophie gave him held no real heat. “Yes, you were right. Parker told us. And we were both right that Hardison and Parker would take the time off to settle into being together.”

Nate leaned back and crossed an ankle over the opposite knee, and smiled back at her. “And the team didn’t implode. It was rather a non-event, actually,” Nate said contentedly. Parker had told them in a very manner-of-fact way, and there was no reason to be surprised.

“Not even Eliot looked surprised,” Sophie agreed. “You have noticed that Hardison can be rather extravagant. He bought Parker a place with high ceilings for her to hang from.”

“And he bought Eliot a brew-pub,” Nate added. 

Sophie looked up at him, “I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just thought it was Hardison trying out another toy. You’re right, though, it does give Eliot an outlet. Did you hear all the bickering about the menu? Anchovies and pineapple pizza, the idea makes me shudder.”

She said it with such disdain that Nate couldn’t help but laugh. “I think Eliot feels the same way.” Even though Eliot was grumbling about it, they all knew Eliot would enjoy the challenge of fixing up the menu. Now they just needed Hardison to get better at brewing beer.

“You know, Parker seems happy here, even if it’s rainy,” Sophie mused. “Do you know what she told me? That all that mattered was that we were here, her money, Hardison and Eliot, you and I.”

Nate froze for a moment. “Was that her exact phrasing?”

“I know,” Sophie huffed, “Parker always puts her money first.”

“No, not that.” Nate rubbed his fingers together as he thought. “She said Hardison and Eliot. Same level of importance.”

“Yes. So?” Sophie asked.

Nate thought back to when Parker had told them all that she and Hardison were dating. No one had pushed, or seemed surprised. Eliot had had the least reaction to it in the moment, but then… what had been that look he and Parker had exchanged once Hardison had moved on to the briefing? Nate was used to Eliot keeping an eye on everyone and everything, but he had been glancing at Parker, checking on her, since she dropped down from the ceiling. And then there had been that look, that smile after Hardison mentioned their around-the-world trip...

“I’m not sure yet,” Nate admitted. Maybe he was seeing things that weren’t there. He’d have to wait. Watch.

Sophie snorted. “Well, let me know when you do,” she told him, and went back to her notes.

*** Interlude ***

Eliot could feel when Parker came into the pub’s kitchen behind him, even though he still didn’t hear her most times. When he turned around to look, she was sitting on the counter behind him. He debated telling her that what was alright at home didn’t make it alright in a commercial kitchen, but then shrugged and let it go--nothing he said would stop her from perching on things. Eliot ladled out two bowls of the chili recipe he was trying and handed one to her with a spoon, gratified that she dug right in. He picked up the other and leaned back against the opposite counter. _Not bad,_ he thought after he took his first bite, _but the chili could use something..._

They ate in silence, Parker almost inhaling her food so that she finished before he had gotten half way through his bowl. They were good with silence, but Eliot had the feeling that Parker wanted to talk. He decided to wait, make her start the conversation, though he was pretty sure what she wanted to talk about.

But she didn’t, just sat there, kicking her heels against the cabinets rhythmically and watching him eat.

“So you finally put him out of his misery,” Eliot observed, voice gruff. Feelings weren’t something either he or Parker found easy to talk about. “He make you happy?”

Parker nodded. And Eliot believed her because even though she wasn’t grinning, her eyes were crinkled up at the corners. She was watching him carefully, so Eliot knew-- _knew_ \--she needed something else from him. He wished he didn’t have to guess.

“I’m happy you guys figured it out,” Eliot finally said. Was that what Parker had been trying to check when she kept shooting glances at him during the briefing? He’d be watching her just as carefully, and he’d thought that she was trying to tell him that, look, she’d done it. She’d finally taken Hardison up on his feelings. Parker had talked to Eliot about wanting to make it work, but not really knowing how. Eliot hadn’t felt like he was much help--he’d tried long-term relationships, they hadn’t gone well. It was also hard to watch Parker and Hardison circle each other that way, because it also felt a bit like they were circling him--

“He still screams when I toss him off a building,” Parker told him, seemingly out of nowhere.

Eliot thought about that for a minute… “Your around the world tour?” he finally guessed.

Parker nodded.

“You chucked him off a building in each city, didn’t you?” Eliot asked. He couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face as he thought about that. Hardison flailed spectacularly when dealing with rigging. And he could have said no… Eliot looked at Parker’s beaming face, eyes even brighter than when he’d asked whether Hardison made her happy. No, Hardison wouldn’t have said no to her.

“It was fun,” Parker said with a grin.

Eliot didn’t doubt that Parker had enjoyed herself. For her, the higher the building, the better. And Hardison was safe with her; she’d never let him really fall and hurt himself. The hacker had probably been popping antacids, or chugging orange soda behind her back.

“You should come next time,” Parker decided.

Eliot almost choked on his bite of chili. “Dammit, Parker!”

“What?” She asked, looking perplexed at his reaction.

“I’m not going to third-wheel on one of your dates!” Eliot growled, chucking his bowl of chili in the sink. He wasn’t going to finish it. He started scrubbing at the dishes; he didn’t want to leave a mess.

“But it’s fun,” Parker protested. He could almost hear her ‘why wouldn’t you?’ in her voice. “I’ll let you push Hardison.”

Eliot could feel his shoulders getting tighter. There were no good responses to this.

“Hey, mama.” Hardison’s voice interrupted Eliot’s thoughts, and the tenseness in his neck started to ease. “Either of ya interested in coming upstairs and watchin’ a movie or somethin’? Nate finally left. Eliot, you should see the new screen I got up there.”

Eliot looked over his shoulder and saw Hardison leaning against the counter next to Parker, his arm was behind her so that his shoulder tilted toward her slightly. They weren’t touching, but Hardison had positioned himself so that Parker could lean into him if she wanted to. Hardison looked mostly relaxed, but there was a strain around his mouth that Eliot didn’t think had anything to do with them and everything to do with whatever Nate had him working on this late at night. “Yeah, sure.” Eliot stacked the dishes to dry beside the sink and slung the towel over his shoulder. He’d wash it and bring it back tomorrow.

When Parker climbed onto Hardison’s back for a ride up to their apartment, and there was a miniscule sag of relief in Hardison’s face, Eliot knew he’d made the right call for tonight.

***

Sophie came out to the pub’s dining area just as Eliot was walking back toward the kitchen. “Where’s Parker?”

“She’s on a trip,” Nate told her easily, not expanding on it when Sophie raised her eyebrow at him.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” Sophie said as she sat down at one of the tables. “Just so long as she’s enjoying herself.”

“Oh, I think she is,” Nate replied vaguely as he sat down across from her.

“It was so nice to see her understand Eliot’s food,” Sophie sighed crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair. “I didn’t have to coach expressions out of her by the end of the meal.”

“Hmmmm,” Nate agreed. Eliot had been the one who had thought--known--Parker could do that grift. Nate hadn’t been quite so sure, but he trusted Eliot when it came to food, and understanding members of the team.

“Nate…” Sophie started.

“Sophie.”

Sophie glanced behind herself for a moment, ensuring that Eliot really was really in the kitchen. “Do you think that Eliot is feeling a bit left out now that, you know, we’re--” Sophie gestured between them, “And Hardison and Parker…?”

Nate had an instant where he wanted to just say “No,” but then he started thinking about it. There were a couple of Eliot’s behaviors that he hadn’t seen surface in a very long time, like referring to the hacker and thief by using ‘typing’ and ‘crazy’ hand gestures. Those had been mixed in with Eliot’s usual bickering with Hardison--including that rather entertaining jab about never knowing when one might need to fight an alien followed by Hardison’s line dance retaliation.

“I don’t think so,” Nate finally decided. “And I don’t think Parker or Hardison would let him.” Parker was still poking at Eliot--with and without making ET voices. And Hardison was trying to find ways to combine his love of tech with the new pub venture and Eliot’s cooking. The two of them were treating Eliot the same way they always had.

“I’m glad. It also looks like Hardison and Parker are settling into their relationship pretty well. I think Parker must have figured out what Hardison was trying to tell her about wanting to do something other than jump off of high things,” Sophie commented. “We would have heard him comment on that by now.”

Nate nodded in agreement, “Yeah. Maybe it’s a couple’s thing, the betting.”

Sophie smiled at him, delighted. “Maybe so. A little competition adds spice.”

“Is that what you call it?” Nate teased.

“It is indeed.”

***

“You know, I asked Eliot what he thought he would do, after we decide that all this,” Sophie waved her hand about to encompass the bar, the back room, the two of them, “is over. He said he’d probably end up looking after this place to make sure Hardison doesn’t run it into the ground.”

Nate settled more comfortably on the stool beside her and leaned on the bar. “I can see that. He would like running a restaurant.”

Sophie studied him for a minute. “You think that Eliot would never leave them, even if he is the odd man out.”

“No.” Nate agreed. “I don’t know if he’d ever want to leave; I don’t know if Parker or Hardison would let him.”

“You were right,” Sophie admitted. “Hardison and Parker aren’t letting him treat them any differently. He’s relaxing into it too. What did you think of Eliot teasing Hardison about being terrible with rigging?”

Nate grinned. “He does resemble a tree frog, doesn’t he?” Nate also hadn’t missed the wink that Eliot had thrown Hardison’s way when he’d told Parker that he thought it was funny when she pushed the hacker off buildings.

“Poor Hardison. Sometimes I wonder if he’s the most normal of any of us,” Sophie said with a sigh.

“Not always, and not in everything. Eliot had to tell him to talk to Parker before making unilateral decisions about the future,” Nate reminded her.

“Sometimes his age does become glaringly obvious,” Sophie admitted. “Interesting that Eliot is giving him advice.”

Nate made a humming noise in the back of his throat. “Eliot and Hardison are friends--brothers--and it is probably as obvious to Eliot as it is to us that sometimes Hardison needs a little coaching in the romance department.”

“Parker has been talking with me less about Hardison than she used to. Do you think she might also be talking to Eliot?” Sophie asked.

Nate took a moment to consider the idea--with any other woman, he would have said no. But Parker… she went to Eliot to try to understand food and feelings--that had been why Eliot had known she’d be able to do the grift. Perhaps she talked to him about her feelings for Hardison, too.

“Maybe.”

“Bet?” Sophie prodded, raising an eyebrow. “For or against the idea?”

“For,” Nate decided.

“I’ll take against. Winner chooses the next date?” Sophie offered.

Nate leaned forward and kissed her. “That works for me.”

*** Interlude ***

Hardison saw Nate and Sophie out, and locked up the pub behind them. Amy had left a little while earlier, after the first zombie movie. She was a good person to have around, normal, caring, and she seemed to deal with both Parker and Eliot equally well. Hardison briefly wondered when Eliot had snuck out--he didn’t remember exactly when he’d last seen the hitter, but the man had been gone by the time he’d had walked Amy to the door.

The hitter had been doing that a lot more, recently. Ever since they’d come to Portland getting Eliot to stick around for a game or a movie had taken twice as much effort. Hardison was frustrated with it all--yes, he was dating Parker, and that was wonderful, but Eliot was his best friend. Hardison had trained himself not to think too much beyond that.

Parker was waiting for him when he got back to the briefing area, still in her chair, the empty bowl of popcorn in her lap. Hardison stopped behind her chair and leaned over so they could exchange a brief, upside down kiss. Her eyes crinkled in a smile. “How’s your knee feel?” he asked. He knew it was annoying her, but he hoped that it hurt somewhat less by now.

Parker shrugged, still smiling up at him.

“Want me to carry you upstairs?”

Her immediate response was to set aside the popcorn bowl, wrap her arms around his neck, and maneuver herself over the chair and onto his back in some way he didn’t quite comprehend. But she did that sometimes. Could treat a body like her own personal jungle gym. Hardison appreciated that her grip on his shoulders and neck didn’t strangle him; she hand one leg wrapped tightly around his waist while he supported her braced leg pointed straight out before them with a hand under her thigh.

“Alright, let’s get you some food, and then sleep.”

Parker turned her face into the side of his neck and hummed contentedly.

“Missed you too, babe,” Hardison murmured, glad to have her warm weight against his back.

As Hardison maneuvered them through the door to their apartment, he noticed that the place smelled amazing. He immediately headed for the kitchen and saw that Eliot was there, hair held back under a bandana, hot mitts in hand. “Hey, man, you’re still here!”

“Couldn’t let you feed her; it’d probably be cereal or somethin,” Eliot grumbled as he opened up the oven and pulled out a homemade pizza covered in vegetables, meat, and cheese. “Amy, I trust. You, I don’t.”

“Pizza!” Parker exclaimed happily. She tapped Hardison’s arm with one hand, letting him know that she wanted to be set down.

Hardison knew better than to protest Eliot’s (accurate) assumption--it would have been a can of soup or something else that didn’t require him to actually cook. “Thanks for cookin’,” he said as he let Parker ease to her feet and watched her hop into the kitchen and lean against Eliot’s side. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Eliot just grunted and kept his attention on Parker. “How’s the knee feelin’?”

“Only hurts when I use it.” Parker tried to sneak something off the top of the pizza but had her hand gently slapped away by Eliot. She pouted at him.

“Then don’t do that,” Eliot ordered. “And wait until dinner’s ready. Go sit at the table.”

Hardison could see Eliot glaring at the top of Parker’s head, which was bent against his shoulder now. The hitter looked stiff and uncomfortable, and the uncertain look he shot back at Hardison confirmed what the hacker had suspected for a while now. Eliot, the martyr, was trying to back away from them as a couple.

“Come ‘ere, babe, let’s get you settled at the table.” Hardison held out a hand for her to take for balance as they went and sat down. Eliot had already set the table small kitchen-nook table, so all they had to do was wait.

Once they were seated, Parker opened her eyes wide at him and tilted her head in Eliot’s direction. Hardison nodded in reply. This would be a good time to talk to the hitter--their hitter--about how things needed to change. They had talked about it between themselves a few times now, watched, analyzed, and Hardison thought that they were on the right track. They both watched as Eliot put something that looked suspiciously like chocolate cupcakes in the now vacant oven and started assembling a green salad.

“Eliot.” Parker’s voice had a serious edge to it. “Come sit and eat.”

Any man who’d ever had a girlfriend could read the vocal subtext: _we need to talk._

“Parker.” Eliot’s tone held a warning.

“Now.”

Parker was getting good with the _I mean business_ voice, Hardison noticed. Maybe this conversation would go smoothly with her directing it.

“You gonna explain the bullet holes I saw in the office downstairs?” Eliot demanded as he set down the pizza and salad. He dropped into his seat and glared across the table at Parker.

“Bullet holes? What bullet holes?” Hardison couldn’t stop his voice from squeaking. Though he knew Eliot was trying to distract them, it worked. “Parker?”

She sighed and looked at him. “Some guys tried to kidnap Amy. They brought a gun to the party. We stopped them.”

“Wait. Hold up. Babe, you did a job while all of us were in Japan? All by yourself? Was that why you were asking about cloning phones?” Hardison ignored the fact that Eliot seemed completely calm and was literally serving them food as if he wasn’t concerned.

“Yeah, but it was fine.”

“Parker, they had guns.” Hardison stressed the last word. “Woman, we’re never leavin’ you alone again!” He looked over at Eliot for confirmation.

The hitter was studying Parker now, and one finger tapped the table top. “They weren’t professionals?”

“No.”

“Good. Next time, you call.” Eliot told her. Then he dug into his pizza as if that were the end of it.

Hardison wasn’t sure that should be the end of it, but that was an opening that he and Parker could exploit: Eliot hadn’t protested his use of we. He may also have just decided that Hardison was too panicked to really listen to anyway. 

“Next time, I won’t need to,” Parker corrected. “You’ll be here.”

“Parker.”

“Eliot.”

They were having a staring contest that didn’t look like it was going to end any time soon and Hardison didn’t know how to steer this ship. The conversation seemed charged but not moving the way it needed to.

“Eliot,” Hardison started. Faltered. “Eliot, we want you here, with us.”

That drew Eliot’s attention. Were his eyes always that blue? “I’m here, aren’t I?” he growled.

“No, all the time. We want you here all the time,” Parker clarified.

“You’re a couple, Parker, that’s not how that works.” Eliot was no longer eating. None of them were. The pizza was getting cold on their plates.

“We’re better together. The three of us,” Parker said stubbornly. Her arms were crossed over her chest now, and she was pressing back into her chair. Eliot’s posture mirrored Parker’s--tense, unhappy.

Hardison reached over and ran a hand down her arm in a comforting gesture. Words. Eliot needed words and body language. Not just one. The messages had to match. Hardison hoped that he’d been reading the hitter right. He reached out and touched Eliot the same way, cupping his hand around the hitter’s shoulder and before running it down his arm. “Eliot, we want you here, and we think you want to be here, too. Whatever you want, whatever you need, it’s here when you decide.”

Hardison remembered the pretzels conversation with Parker. Make the invitation open; Eliot could take them up on it when he wanted.

“Hardison,” Eliot rasped. “You don’t-”

“I do mean it. We mean it.”

“We didn’t mean to leave you behind,” Parker added, leaning forward and poking Eliot in the forearm. “Thought you’d come with us.”

“You’ve changed.”

“So have you,” Hardison reminded him.

“We can change together,” Parker offered.

Eliot nodded slowly, eyes studying both of them intently, checking to make sure they really meant it. “That I can do.”

***

“Do you think Eliot will be alright?” Sophie asked over drinks that night. The hitter had asked for a couple days away from the team, no explanation.

Nate sighed. “He will be. This job was a hard one for him. Brought back a lot of memories, I’d guess.”

“I wish he’d taken Hardison or Parker with him.”

“No. This was something he needed to do on his own.” Nate sipped his whiskey and tilted his head as he savored the flavor and the heat. “Eliot will talk to them in his own time.”

“He really is the fifth wheel now, though,” Sophie said sadly. “He obviously cares for them--did you hear him coaching Parker on breathing when she called him while we were in Japan?--but he’s still alone.”

Nate nodded thoughtfully. Hardison could be physically and verbally demonstrative--he would be near Parker in a room, use romantic language over the comms. This wasn’t new, though. And it wasn’t done to exclude anyone. Even with that slight shift in the team, Nate knew that Eliot was close to Hardison and Parker--closer to the two of them than to either himself of Sophie. Knew that the hitter would lay down his life for any of them. But Eliot had kept a distance from the team on this one; possibly it hurt too much right now.

“This job was purely personal for him. I know you’ve always said that we should try to avoid those, but you didn’t on this one.” Sophie’s statement was a question. “You usually don’t when it’s Eliot.”

Nate raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t disagree. Even from the early days, he’d let Eliot talk him into helping the hitter’s high-school sweetheart. They’d also just helped one of Eliot’s mentors in the last few months. This one, though, was more raw than either of those.

“Hardison will keep an eye on him,” Nate assured her, changing the topic. He’d caught the way that the hacker had been watching Eliot throughout the briefing--throughout the case really. Not necessarily agreeing with Eliot, but knowing that this was important to him, and worried about how much Eliot seemed to be repressing. And Hardsion had taken them off comms when he and Eliot had been in Lucille. Hopefully Eliot had taken the opportunity to open up to Hardison.

“They’ve been closer since they got back from that trip to DC,” Sophie agreed. “I wonder if they had anything to do with that big federal case…?”

“With those three, you never know. And with Eliot’s ties to the military… I’d say it was likely.” The others hadn’t talked to Nate and Sophie about the extra time they’d spent in DC, but there was a suspiciously neat bow on that terrorist case that had briefly flashed across the news.

“Think they’ll be ready for more work on their own soon?”

“Yeah. They’ll be ready.”

***

“Thank you for your trust,” Sophie said again, later, once they were alone in their apartment. “I know that it’s a different take on Christmas gifts, but I think it’s important. You’ve been pushing everyone pretty hard recently, and it’s good to know why we do this.”

Nate sat down on the couch with a sigh and nodded. “I know. But it’s important.”

“I know.” Sophie kicked off her heels and curled up on the couch next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “But they are ready.”

“How do you think they’re doing with each other?”

Sophie looked startled for a moment, but then settled back against him to think. Nate was curious to know whether she was seeing the same patterns that he had noted.

“Well, Hardison and Parker aren’t being very demonstrative. She may touch Eliot as much as she does Hardison while we’re on a job--did you hear her using Eliot as a sounding board when she was annoyed with Hardison at the winery? She also started brushing dirt off of him.” Sophie paused, and then continued, “Hardison and Eliot are still bickering, but I haven’t seen any of their ‘secret’ handshakes recently.”

“No,” Nate agreed. “But have you seen the way they watch each other? Parker checked in with Eliot before saying that she was alright after we pulled off the White Rabbit. And it wasn’t until she said she was fine that Eliot and Hardison relaxed.”

“What are you saying, Nate?”

“They aren’t being as physical with each other, but their body language--the silent check-ins, the way they angle around each other. They are their own unit now, I think. More so since getting back from DC.”

“I wouldn’t disagree. Do you think it is more than that, though?” Sophie asked. “He actually told Eliot not to pick up any of the blogger moms. I don’t think I’d heard him ever tell Eliot to not hit on someone.”

“It was meant to be funny, but you’re right. That was unusual for him.” Nate thought back over the last few cases. There might be something more than solid camaraderie between the three of them, but there wasn’t any solid piece of evidence that he could point to. There had been Hardison’s voice over the comms--telling Eliot that they were on their way, that they were working on getting him air--but Hardison would be that determined to save any member of the team. Running out of air was still somewhat of a trigger for their hacker after almost drowning in a swimming pool and being buried alive. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

***

“Nate.”

“Laura.”

“We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” Nate took her hand and brought it to his lips so he could kiss her fingers just below the engagement ring. “But we’ll see them again.’

“They’ll be alright.” Laura’s voice held equal parts conviction and uncertainty.

“They’ll be great,” Nate reassured her, tugging her close so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders as they walked back toward their apartment. “Parker is ready; her grifting is stronger thanks to your coaching, she always works the puzzle, and she knows how to keep her emotions in check. Hardison is smart, and he’s learning how to dial back the sell; he’ll be more careful for them. And Eliot… Eliot will make sure they’re both safe.”

“You knew,” Laura accused, looking up at him. “You knew that they were all together.”

“I suspected. They’ve been more careful with each other recently, more aware of each other physically; readjusting to a new normal, but also even more able to anticipate each other.” Nate smiled, remembering the exchange between grifter and hitter. “When Eliot winked at you, though, that was confirmation.”

“Did you plan this? Plan being able to give Eliot something he didn’t know he needed?” Laura demanded.

Nate shook his head. “I chose you. Dubenich chose them. I knew they all had rough edges from chasing them periodically, but I couldn’t have predicted during that first job that they would smooth down just enough to fit together. After Moreau. After Moreau, that’s when I started to know a bit better what Eliot needed.”

“Have I told you recently that I find your brain very sexy?” Laura snugged herself in closer to his side as they walked. “Even though I’m annoyed that you suspected and didn’t tell me.”

“But I did. I bet.”

“You said you were looking at their relationships in a non-romantic way,” Laura protested, slapping at his stomach.

“Yes. But just because I wasn’t looking for romance didn’t mean that I didn’t see where it could be solidifying those relationships.” Nate had known that there was a chance that working together so closely, being in each other’s heads and pockets, there was every chance that feelings would get involved. That friendships would develop into family would develop into even more.

“They do complement each other, don’t they. Do you think they can make it work?”

“It will take effort, but I think so.”

*** Interlude ***

Parker waited until Hardison finally came upstairs to their apartment before she dropped down from the rafter beam she’d been perched on. “Is it done?”

Hardison nodded. “It’s up. I’ve left a trail so crews can contact us for details about the marks.”

Eliot came into the living room from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. He’d disappeared in there as soon as Nate and Sophie had left, and Parker had respected his need for space, knowing that he’d emerge eventually. He’d, in turn, allowed her to sit in the rafters by herself. The hitter looked carefully at Hardison then walked over to wrap his hand around the back of the hacker’s neck. “You look tired.”

“Creating the dump was… complicated,” Hardison admitted, letting his forehead fall against Eliot’s, his eyes drifting closed. “We’ll retain enough control so that we decide which crews we work with, but there’s enough information out there so that we’re not holding the information alone.”

There was a beauty in Hardison’s surrender to Eliot’s hold. Parker remembered the first time Eliot had done that while they were chasing terrorists in DC--Hardison had still been getting used to that intimacy and had resisted Eliot’s pull on his neck just slightly. Now, it was a gesture of comfort for both of them.

“You didn’t have to do it tonight, Alec,” Eliot chastised gently.

“Didn’t want us to be a target for housing it ourselves,” Hardison mumbled.

Parker agreed with both her men. That it was safer to have the information shared, and that it probably could have waited until morning. This had been a long job. She could see the exhaustion in both Hardison and Eliot, and the additional sorrow that Laura-Sophie and Nate had walked away. No, they weren’t needed the same way anymore, but they were family and goodbyes were hard.

“You okay?” Hardison asked after a moment. “I smell biscuits and you don’t usually do breakfast for dinner.”

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Eliot’s voice was gruff, but Parker knew that Hardison also heard his sincerity.

“Parker?” Hardison’s forehead was still resting against Eliot’s but now his hand reached out toward her.

“How’re you holdin’ up, sweatheart?” Eliot finished for Hardison, turning his head so that he could look at her without losing contact with Hardison. He also reached out to her so she could fit in against them both. “You alright with this?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” But the comfort of having both Hardison and Eliot with her helped the soreness inside. She knew they knew that without her needing to say it.

Hardison rubbed slow circles in the small of her back. “You’re our mastermind, ya know that, babe?”

Parker nodded and let her eyes drift shut as Eliot leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. They stood there like that, entangled for a few moments, connected. Even when she needed it as much as breathing, sometimes the closeness started to itch.

“You’re also makin’ bacon to go with those biscuits, aren’t ya, Eliot?”

Hardison was still the best at easing them into and out of emotional minefields. He used words when she and Eliot had trouble with them. And they worked. Eliot chuckled and lightly bumped Hardison’s shoulder as he released them both. “Yeah, I’ve got bacon.”

“Pancakes?” Parker asked hopefully. Pancakes meant maple syrup. They followed Eliot into the kitchen to watch him finish cooking.

“Yep,” Eliot agreed. “And eggs so there’s something healthy to go with the rest.”

“You spoil us, man,” Hardison said with a smile. After a beat, his smile turned a bit wicked. “I can’t believe you told Sophie.”

Eliot shrugged. “It was time. And she wouldn’t’a believed anythin’ less.”

“Nate had already figured it out,” Parker added. She showed them the tattered black book, which she’d lifted from Sophie’s purse just before the couple had left. It was something to remember them both by, something to learn from if she was going to run this crew.

“Is that…?” Hardison’s voice drifted off, eyes widening.

Parker nodded.

“Make some interestin’ bed-time readin’. But don’t you go tellin’ us what she--what they--wrote about us,” Eliot warned Parker, pointing at her with his spatula. “Not somethin’ I’d be wantin’ to know.”

“Really? You don’t wanna know? You aren’t the least bit curious?” Hardison demanded.

“No. That was between the two’a them. Dammit, Hardison, they didn’t write that for us to read. Parker, maybe, but not us.”

Hardison started to pout, but Eliot stopped him with a quick, rough kiss.

Eliot looked back at her, Hardison silent once again. “You’re our mastermind, sweatheart. We trust you. Trust your judgement.”

Parker was quiet, watching her crew, her partners, for a moment. They were solid; they could do this. “We take a couple of days, then we dig into the black book. We take other clients too, when they need us. But first, pancakes.”

**Author's Note:**

> New note on my oldest fic. I have been remiss in not telling people where I am-feel free to find me on Tumblr under the same name: [buriedbybooks](https://buriedbybooks.tumblr.com/).


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